


come home, baby, it's over.

by ShyAudacity



Series: Riverdale Prompt Fills [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Archie Andrews Needs a Hug, Asexual Jughead Jones, Betty Veronica Kevin and Sheriff Keller are all mentioned, Boys Kissing, Breaking Up & Making Up, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Forgiveness, Happy Ending, Heartache, Hurt Archie Andrews, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post episode 13 even though i havent seen it, Sad Archie, Sad Ending, Sad Jughead, Sleep Deprivation, idk if this ending is happy or sad so, mary is only mentioned and doesn't speak oops, oh yeah Alice Cooper is mentioned too, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2018-10-26 00:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10775898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: Anon asked: Could you do Archie saying sorry to Jughead, set after the last episode and they kiss and makeup?ORAfter everything is over, after the mystery of who killed Jason Blossom is solved, and after the storm has passed, Jughead doesn’t come home for three days.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shout-out to Amy and Ziska for beta reading this for me. Super shout-out to the anon for the dope prompt. Feelings are my forte if you couldn't tell. If I've missed a tag, please feel free to scream it at me.
> 
> Title is, once again, from Today Means Amen by Sierra Demulder.

After everything is over, after the mystery of who killed Jason Blossom is solved, and after the storm has passed, Jughead doesn’t come home for three days. Archie doesn’t question him as to why, he already knows, and he doesn’t think that his boyfriend would tell him anyways. Better yet, he’s not sure that he can still call Jughead his boyfriend. So much went down in such a short period of time, Archie wishes that he could just forget about it all.

Every time he closes his eyes, he sees Jughead’s devastated face, the face he made after he found out Alice Cooper had coerced Veronica and Archie into searching his family’s trailer.

“ _You all lied to me?_ ” he had said. The look of complete betrayal and anger that had flooded the features of his face made Archie wish he could go back in time and undo it, wish that he had said no to Mrs. Cooper when she’d propositioned him.

“ _Jug, baby, I’m so sorry._ ” Archie had tried, reaching for his hand.

“ _Don’t speak to me.”_ Jughead had spat at him before running off.

It was all Archie could do not to run after him, to beg for forgiveness right then and there. But he didn’t, he was too ashamed of himself. He finds it near impossible to sleep after that, the bed is too cold without Jughead there to help keep him warm, there’s too much empty space. He swears he doesn’t sleep more than six hours that whole weekend, he keeps himself up replaying the whole scenario in his head. He wants nothing more than to go back and stop time, to keep Jughead from hearing about what himself and Veronica had done.

But life doesn’t work like that, Archie is trying to grapple with it as he gets through the day. He feels awful, there’s an ache just below his ribcage that he can’t seem to get rid of. Archie ignores Betty and Veronica in the hallways and at lunch, he doesn’t have the capacity to hold a conversation, to make jokes. He’s too busy beating himself up. His dad had told him that morning that he could skip school if he’d wanted to, but he declined, he didn’t want to spend any more time alone in this space that he should be sharing with Jughead.

When Archie finally gets home, it’s late and he feels dead on his feet. He’d forgotten about his World History test, and that he’d promised to help his dad down at the construction site. The boy’s hands shake from over exerting himself after getting such little sleep. Fully prepared to go to bed right then, he trudges up to his bedroom.

He closes to door to his room and finds Jughead standing in front of the window that looks out towards Betty’s house, illuminated only by the street lamp outside. He doesn’t look at Archie as he comes he in. Archie pauses at the foot of his bed, unsure of how to move forward in the situation.

When Jughead finally speaks up, his tone is angry. “I can’t forgive you…not right now, I don’t have it in me.”

“Okay, I can understand that.” Archie says, willing himself not to shatter into a thousand pieces on his bedroom floor. “Where have you been?”

“At Kevin’s. Sheriff Keller was a little too willing to let me sleep on his couch for a few days after everything that went down. To be honest, I think he was just trying to pity me.”

Archie nods though he knows Jughead can’t see him. “Can I give you a hug?”

Jughead doesn’t answer so he takes it as a no. It doesn’t stop him from reaching for the hand hanging at Jughead’s side, sighing in relief when he doesn’t pull away. Archie can’t stop himself from dropping his head onto Jughead’s shoulder, his breath shuddering as he does. The two stand there in the quiet, still, darkness just listening to each other breathe.

After what feels like hours, Jughead turns around, still holding onto Archie’s hand and presses their foreheads together.

“I don’t like being mad at you.” he says quietly.

Archie nods against him, the unspoken “I know” echoing in his head. Archie kisses his forehead, then his nose. It catches him off guard when Jughead goes for his mouth, drinking him in with his kiss. Archie kisses him back with fervor, placing a hand on his cheek.

Jughead pulls away a minute later, putting their foreheads together again. “I hate this town, these people, I hate what it’s done to us.”

“Yeah,” Archie agrees, his voice soft. “But it’s got you, so it can’t be too bad.”

He can hear the questioning grin in Jughead’s voice, “Are you trying to seduce me, Andrews?”

Just like that, the feeling in the room goes from tense and cautious to light and playful. Archie feels the ache in his ribs begin to diminish as the second’s pass.

“Can we lay down? I’m exhausted.” Archie asks. Jughead doesn’t respond, instead, he moves to pull the two them down onto the bed. The act is so familiar to the pair, having done it so often in the past few months. Jughead places his head directly over where he knows Archie’s heart is, hearing it beat underneath him puts him at ease, if only for a moment.

Archie moves his fingers over the small hairs at the nape of Jughead’s neck, poking his fingers under the brim of his beanie. He doesn’t recognize his own voice when he launches his voice into the noiseless room.

“I hate that I hurt you. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for it.”

Jughead has nothing to say about Archie’s confession, just as well, Archie isn’t sure that he wants to know what he thinks about it. The red head drifts off not even ten minutes later, it’s the best sleep that he’s had all week long.

*

When he wakes up, sunlight is peaking through the window and the other side of the bed is cold. He feels that ache below his ribs taunting him, threatening to make itself at home in his chest once again. Archie rubs his eyes, sitting up he sees Jughead, already showered and pulling his backpack onto his shoulders.

“Juggie?” Archie calls, grabbing his attention, getting Jughead to face him.

“Yeah?”

“Are we uh… are we still together? As boyfriends, I mean.”

Jughead’s face falls, he looks down where his hands are wrung together. “I don’t know.”

He can feel the ache creeping its way in. Regardless, he continues to speak, not trusting his own voice not to fail to him. In a hushed tone, he says, “I love you.”

“I know,” Jughead assures him. He leans over, kissing Archie on the forehead. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

Archie feels his chin trembling as he watches Jughead leave. He eases himself back under the covers, pulling them over himself as if to make himself invisible from the rest of the world. The feeling in his ribs is back, in full force, it makes its presence known with every passing second. Archie thinks that it’s going to consume him, thinks that he deserves it after everything he’s done in the last few days.  

He doesn’t answer his dad asking him if he’s going to school, and Archie hears the older man on the phone with the school nurse a few minutes later, calling him out sick for the day. He pulls his spare pillow towards, breathing in the familiar scent that Jughead has carried with him since they were children.

If a few tears escape before Archie allows himself to fall asleep again, well, nobody needs to know.   


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the first part before a couple of weeks before the season one finale. I figured now that I know how all of that plays out, I should rewrite it to follow canon a bit more! The ending is a little angsty, but it wouldn't be one of my fics if it wasn't so... Enjoy! 
> 
> Still unbeta'd and I don't own anything.

After everything is over, after it’s revealed that Clifford Blossom was the one who shot Jason and Fred Andrews has been shot, Archie doesn’t see Jughead for a week and a half. In some sense, he’s not surprised. On the other hand, he doesn’t know how he’s managed to hold himself together without Jughead around. He hasn’t slept more than five hours in the last three days. This has been the worst week of his life. It hurts like nothing that he’s ever felt before, but he deserved it, that’s what he tells himself at least. This is what he gets for hurting Jughead.

He can still hear Jughead’s voice in his head, how betrayed he must have felt when he learned that his friends and boyfriend had deceived him.

_“You all lied to me?”_

_“Jug, baby, please, just listen to me-.”_

_“Don’t speak to me.”_

Watching Jughead run away from him is something that Archie knows he’ll never be able to get out of his head.

Archie doesn’t think that he’ll ever get over this, his father being shot right in front of him. When he finally come home, it’s a little after nine o’clock, the night before Fred is being released from the hospital. Fred had insisted that Archie go home and actually sleep in his own bed, he couldn’t say no to his father. When he makes an attempt to sleep in his bed, Jughead is there waiting for him in his room.

Jughead has his back to the door, facing the window that looks into Betty’s room.

It takes everything that Archie has in him not to run over and fall to his knees in forgiveness, to wrap himself around Jughead and refuse to let go.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t come to the hospital,” Jughead says, not looking at him. “I’m glad that your Dad’s okay, but I wasn’t ready to face you yet.”

“I understand…” Archie says over the lump in his throat. “Where were you?”

“At the trailer… My foster family agreed to let me stay there until this thing with my dad blows over. Betty told me what happened at the River with Cheryl… she must really love you now.”

_I’m more worried about whether or not you still want to be with me. Please don’t leave me alone, I don’t think that I can take it anymore._

“Can I give you a hug? Please?” Archie asks carefully.

Jughead turns around slowly, studies him for a minute before strutting over and wrapping his arms around Archie’s neck. Jughead cradles the back of his head, gently pushes Archie’s face into his neck.

Archie is quick to tighten his arms around Jughead’s waist, crying into his collar bone. Everything still hurts. He feels like it’s never going to stop, but at least he has Jughead now, even if only for a moment. He feels like he can breathe again for the first time in days. Archie shudders in Jughead’s hold.

“What do you need right now, Arch?” Jughead asks in his ear. “How can I help?”

“P-Please just keep holding me.”

“Okay, okay… do you wanna move to the bed?”

Archie nods, allowing Jughead to pull him down onto the mattress. Instead of cuddling like they usually would, Archie lies mostly in Jughead’s lap while Jughead runs a hand up and down Archie’s back, trying to soothe him.

As much as he wants to, Archie can’t seem to stop crying. It’s like his eyes have become a fountain, he’s surprised that he hasn’t run dry yet.

“I’m so s-sorry that I hurt you, Juggie.” He says, rolling over to look up at Jughead.   

“Hey, don’t do that, you- I’m not mad at you anymore, okay? I forgive you, I promise. Believe me, I know how sorry you are.”

Archie nods, reaching up and rubbing his thumb across Jughead’s cheek.

Jughead looks at him fondly before squeezing his hand and clearing his throat.

“C’mon,” He says, moving out from under Archie. “You need to sleep.”

The two of them lie together in the middle of the bed as they drift off, Jughead’s chest pressed against Archie’s back. Archie finds Jughead’s hand in the dark, pulling his arm around his stomach tightly.

Just before he falls asleep, Archie thinks to himself: _Thank god that you came back to me. I don’t know what I would have done without you._

***

When Archie wakes up, his face is already pressed into Jughead’s chest. He doesn’t remember rolling over at any point during the night, but he’s not surprised that he ended up like this. He can hear a bird chirping outside. When Archie cracks an eye open, he sees light coming in through the curtains on his window.

Jughead has one of his hands curled around Archie’s neck, scratching at his scalp. He rests his cheek against Archie’s head.

“How long have I been asleep?” Archie asks.

“Since last night; your mom left about an hour ago to go pick up Fred, she didn’t want to wake you. She said they might be a little while because they have to go talk with the physical therapist or something like that.”

Archie hums in response, burrowing into the warmth of Jughead’s chest.

Jughead wraps his free arm around Archie’s shoulders before he continues.

“This town is going to ruin us.”

“We don’t have to stay here forever, you know? We could always leave if we really wanted to.”

“I know,” Jughead says softly. “I’m just worried that we’re never going to get the chance.”

Archie almost asks why he would say something like that, then is hit with the sudden reminder that _oh yeah, my Dad was shot right in front of me three days ago._ It makes him suck in a deep breath, shaking his head as he tries to get that image out of his head, of his father lying on ground in a pool of blood.

Jughead tightens his grip around Archie.

“Shit. Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-.”

Archie makes a guttural noise in the back of his throat, shaking his head again and moving it towards Jughead’s collar bone. He looks up at his boyfriend with watery eyes, then reaches up to kiss him. It’s gentle and sweet and everything that Archie needs right now. He needs to feel something other than broken to pieces.

As Jughead kisses him back, he’s so grateful that Jughead didn’t give up on him when he had every right and reason to do so. Archie has spent so much of the last few days wondering how he would go on without his favorite person in the world by his side, needless to say he’s more than relieved that he does not have to.

Archie pulls away from the kissing to meet Jughead’s eye.

“I love you, Jug.”

He nods, “I know… I love you too, Archie.”

Archie smiles then kisses him once more before moving to lie on his chest again.

He doesn’t know what the future has in store. Archie doesn’t yet know the full effect of what his father’s shooting will do to his family, or even this town. He does, however, know that when Jughead is around, he wants to be better, to _do_ better. He’s going to do what he has to in order to protect the people that he cares about, no matter what it may cost him.

_I’m going to keep them safe… I have to do right by them somehow. I’ll make sure that everyone makes it out of this town alive, even if it’s the last thing that I do._

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna talk riverdale or if you have a prompt for me, come find me on tumblr as thejugheadchronicles. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please do let me know if you liked it, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated as always. Have a great day!


End file.
